The Voices
by X.XBloodyBlackRoseX.X
Summary: A young explorer finds a strange stone outside of the Crystal Empire. Soon after, he begins to hear a voice. A voice that tells him to destroy everything. With time it gets worse. With his mind teetering on the edge of insanity, can a shy pony pull him back before it's too late?
1. Prologue

**Prologue: Here We Go Again**

**For anyone who is familiar with my previous story Home Is Where Your Heart Is, then you most likely know that I cancelled it. This is a remake of that story with an adjusted plot. Characters will be the same (including my OC). Whether you read the original or not, it is my hope that you will enjoy this new story. I promise that I will not cancel this one so get ready for the long haul.**

**Read, Enjoy, Comment :)**

A pony breathed into his hooves and rubbed them together in an attempt to warm them. He looked around the wasteland of white and shivered. "Where the hell am I?" He asked the surrounding snow as if he actually expected an answer.

After a moment, he continued to trudge through the snow, with it reaching halfway up his legs. "Should of taken the train. Who's bright idea was it to put the Crystal Empire in the middle of the tundra anyways?" He grumbled to himself before falling flat on his face.

"Ow..." He growled and looked back to see a small shiny object sticking out of the snow. He got his hooves back under him and looked at the object for a moment before wiping some of the snow away.

He tilted his head as a strange shaped rock appeared out of the snow. It had a slight curve to it and it ended in a sharp point. The bottom looked jagged, as if it had been broken off of something else. The color changed from black to a dark red as it traveled from the bottom to the point.

Carefully, he picked up the strange rock and turned it over in his hooves. "Why does this look like a horn?" He wondered as he looked at it in wonder. After a moment, he decided to keep it. He grabbed the horn out of his hooves with his magic and slid it into the saddlebag sitting on his back.

After he had safely stored the rock, he started off in the direction that he thought would lead him to the empire. As he set off, he could have sworn he heard laughter in his head.

**Short Prologue. A real chapter will be out in a few days.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Welcome to Ponyville**

**Welcome to The Voices. Not much to say. Just enjoy I guess.**

**Read, enjoy, comment.**

"So this is Ponyville huh?" A gray stallion wondered as he wandered through the town. "What's so great about this rinky-dink town anyways?" He muttered as he looked at the multicolored buildings.

_Burn it._

"This again? Shut up, whatever the hay you are." He mentally chastised the voice. "Can't you just shut up for a few minutes?"

_No._

He rolled his eyes and just continued trotting around the town until his stomach reminded him that he hadn't eaten all day. "I need food." He grumbled and asked a random green pony passing by where to get some food.

After pointing him in the direction of the market, the green pony went on her way and the other trotted to the market.

_Asking for directions? Why not just blast a few buildings aside and find your way that way?_

He pretended not to hear it and after a few moments, he found himself standing in the middle of a street with dozens of stands lining the sides of the road selling a wide assortment of different foods.

He quickly scanned the stands and decided simply to grab a few apples from one of the stands. He trotted up to a nearby apple stand and addressed the orange mare standing behind the counter. "Hello. Can I get four apples please?"

"Sure thing." The mare responded in a southern drawl. She quickly turned, grabbed four shiny red apples and placed them on the counter. "That'll be four bits."

He nodded and four bits floated out of his saddle bag and dropped next to the apples.

"Ain't seen ya'll round here before." She said as she swiped the bits off the counter into a small box behind the booth. "Ya new in town?"

Again he nodded. "I'm just visiting. Some pony said that Ponyville was an interesting place to visit." He answered and took an experimental bite out of one of the apples. "Mmhmm...That's good." He half moaned.

"Why thank ya kindly." She blushed slightly and tipped her hat forward.

In a moment, the pony had finished the apple, core and all. "I may have to come back later for more." He said with a smile as he levitated the remaining three into his bag. "Thank you miss..." He left the sentence hanging.

"Just call me Applejack." She chuckled.

"Well okay then Applejack. I'm Wanderlust. I hope to see you around sometime." He bowed his head slightly and turned away.

_Should have killed her._

"Shut up." He grumbled before trotting off in a random direction.

Soon he arrived in a small park. Looking around, he saw it was mostly empty except for a purple colored unicorn reading a book on a nearby bench. Deciding to leave her in peace, he took a seat under a shady oak tree and began to slowly, but surely, devour the apples, savoring each bite.

He sighed contently and would have nodded off into a peaceful sleep if it weren't for the voice driving any thoughts of sleep from his mind.

_Burn something._

"No."

_Kill a pony._

"No."

_Steal something._

"No."

_Please...?_

"Okay."

_Really?_

"NO!" He shouted out loud eliciting a squeak from a nearby pony. He turned his attention in the squeak and saw a yellow pegasus shaking behind her soft pink mane. "Oh, I'm sorry."

_I'm not._

"Are you okay?" He continued. The only response he got was a soft squeak and the sight of a soft blue eye peeking out from behind the veil of pink. "I'll take that as a yes?" He asked.

She nodded slightly and poked her face out of her curtain of hair. "W-Why did you yell?" She asked shakily.

"Oh, I'm just a little crazy." He chuckled, only half joking.

This elicited a small smile from the pegasus. She looked at the stallion lying under the tree. He had a simple light gray coat with his short mane and tail being only a slightly darker color. His eyes were a light blue that seemed to be somewhere between ice and the clear sky with a gray horn sticking out of his forehead a short distance from his hair line. He had a simple brown saddlebag on his back that obscured his cutie mark. She quickly blushed as she realized that she was just staring at him.

He pretended not to notice and asked her what her name was. "F-Fluttershy." She squeaked. "What's y-your..." She got quieter with each word until her last word couldn't even be heard.

Luckily, Wanderlust knew what she was asking. "My name is Wanderlust. It is a pleasure to meet you Fluttershy." He said and flashed a charming smile.

She blushed lightly at his smile.

_She's cute when she blushes. Wouldn't you like to see more red on her?_

He scowled and shot to his hooves. "Excuse me Miss Fluttershy. I must be going."

She took a step back seeing his expression. "O-Okay!" She squeaked.

He nodded quickly and turned away before galloping away.

_KILL HER! KILL HER! KILL HER!_

Once he was a considerable distance from Fluttershy, he quickly ran behind a tree and roared, "SHUT UP!" before he dropped onto his haunches and put his face in his hooves. "Just leave me alone..." He groaned to the voice.

It was silent for a moment until he heard low laughter from inside his head. Not for the first time, he considered cracking his own skull in an attempt to drive the voice out.

Moments, later all was quiet except for birds chirping somewhere in the distance. He pulled his face away from his hooves and looked around. The only thing nearby was a small brown bunny looking at him curiously.

After a moment it hopped over to him and sniffed him cautiously. He just smiled and brought a hoof to the bunny's head. When it didn't pull away, he placed it gently on it's head and gave the bunny a single scratch behind it's ears making it thump it's foot in joy.

Wanderlust felt his smile grow at the sight and he scratched behind the bunny's ear a little more, earning a few more thumps of it's foot. His smile vanished as an image of his hoof smashing down on the bunny's head flashed in his mind. He gasped sharply and the bunny quickly scurried away.

It was a full five minutes before he was able to breath normally. "What is wrong with me?" He gasped.

Again the laughter came and Wanderlust found himself scared. He was stiff until the laughter faded into nothingness leaving nothing but an oppressive silence in it's place.

By this point, Celestia's sun was beginning to fall below the horizon as Luna's moon slowly rose. Despite his shaken nerves, Wanderlust soon found his eye lids growing heavy. He decided to just spend the night in the tree he was under.

A few futile hops later, Wanderlust found himself nestled between two thick branches. He laid on his back and placed his saddlebag on his stomach. "Goodnight moon," He murmured as his eyes closed, after taking in the sight of the crescent moon.

_Sweet dreams fool..._

**There we go. Chapter 1 is finished. Not an exceptionally long chapter but hopefully you still enjoyed it. Future chapter will definitely be longer but I am not exactly a wonderful author who can create a long and eloquent flow of words so my chapters will never be very long. (Note: An average chapter for me will be 1800-3000 words. Just in case you were wondering.)**

**Anyways...Until next time, I bid you a fond farewell.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: The Stone**

**I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter. If you didn't like it, then go **** yourself ^^ Just kidding. Kinda. Not really. Anyways, here is chapter 2.**

**Read, enjoy, comment.**

Wanderlust sat on an intricately carved wooden seat. In front of him lay a long oak table covered with a long red table cloth. A wide assortment of food sat on wide silver platters but Wanderlust didn't make a move to touch any of it. His dinner partners did the same but not by their choice.

Their mouths watered and their hooves itched to grab the food lying mere inches in front of them. The only things that kept them from tearing into the food were the chains keeping them bound.

The only two ponies who could move were Wanderlust and his "gracious" host. At the head of the table sat a gray pony cloaked in silver armor. Perched on his head was light gray crown resting above a red and black horn.

"Aren't you going to eat something?" He asked in a deep, booming voice. "I'm sure my other guests would be more then happy to do the same." He laughed darkly.

Wanderlust looked at the drooling ponies with pity. "Then why don't you let them?"

"But where is the fun in that?" With that, he pushed a plate of food closer to the blue mare sitting next to him.

Her eyes sparkled for a moment and she lunged for the food only to end with her hooves inches from the plate. Tears flowed down her cheeks but still she struggled in vain to reach the food that was so far away, it might as well have been miles.

Wanderlust watched with a sort of detached interest. He took quick note of her disgruntled mane and her tight looking face. Dark circles hung under her eyes. She was obviously starving and she looked like she would struggle until she either broke the chains or died.

Wanderlust nudged the plate forward slightly with his magic until it was just close enough for her to grab. A look of pure joy crossed her face right before her eyes widened and she dropped face first onto the plate.

The stallion sitting next to her smiled as his horn's glow slowly dissipated. "Oops."

Wanderlust felt a deep growl form in his chest and before he realized what was happening, he had the stallion on his back with his horn hovering over his throat.

"I like the anger. Use it. Give in to your rage." The pinned pony said with a joyless smile.

Quickly, Wanderlust jumped backwards and tried to calm his pounding heart. Every fiber of his being had wanted him to ram his horn through the cruel unicorn's windpipe but he found just the thought of such a thing terrifying.

"Pathetic." Came a hiss from the pony. Quickly turning his head, Wanderlust saw that the stallion had vanished and in his place was a large black mass of shadow.

"Begone." Came the hiss again before the shadow lunged at him.

As the shadows engulfed him, Wanderlust felt the ground shudder before dropping away under his hooves entirely.

* * *

Wanderlust woke up falling. He hit the ground with a thud and grunted in pain. He was sprawled out on his back but made no move to get up. He even contemplated going back to sleep until something brown appeared in his sight.

Focusing, Wanderlust found himself looking at a familiar brown bunny. It hopped over and sniffed Wanderlust before giving him a small lick on the nose. Wanderlust just smiled and rolled over.

"You are a very friendly little bunny." Wanderlust said softly and patted the rabbit on the head.

Wanderlust picked himself up off the ground and cracked his back. "Note to self: Don't sleep in trees." He thought before putting his saddlebag on and trotting away from the tree.

He yawned and out of the corner of his eye, saw the brown bunny hopping after him. He stopped and turned to look at the bunny. It looked back and stopped hopping. Turning, Wanderlust continued to trot along but a quick look over his shoulder showed the bunny again following him.

_Annoying creature. Crush it._

Wanderlust shuddered as the voice entered his mind. He wished that for just one day, the voice would leave him be.

He was pulled out of his mind by a loud thump. Looking down, Wanderlust saw the bunny standing directly in front of him. He was about to question what it was doing until it lifted it's arms up and made small grabbing motions.

"You want to come with me?" He asked and received a quick nod as a response. Wanderlust had no idea why this bunny would possibly want his company, but who was he to question it. Putting out a hoof, he watched as the bunny quickly hopped onto it before hopping up to his back. After a moment, he felt a small weight drop onto his head, and he knew that the bunny was sitting on top of his gray mane.

"I'll call you Ginger." He said with a smile before he trotted on.

Somewhere between there and town, Wanderlust's stomach started to quake with hunger. "I'll feed you later." He grumbled at his belly.

_Why wait? You have a perfectly good rabbit right there._

"Shut up." He said out loud, gaining him an awkward glance from a nearby pony. He ignored the look and decided to just wander around town for a little until he found something to better occupy his time.

That something came in the form of a bright pink blur crashing into him. He barely had time to realize that there was a pink pony with a very puffy mane standing over him before an onslaught of words began to assault his ears.

"Hi! Welcome to Ponyville! I'm Pinkie Pie! What's your name?" She paused for only half a second before continuing on. "That's okay, you don't have to tell me your name because you are my newest best friend! OH! Now I have to throw you a party! Do you like parties cause I think-"

Wanderlust stopped trying to follow her words at that point as they all turned into an incomprehensible mess.

_Oh my sweet Celestia. Please shut her up._

For once, Wanderlust listened to the voice and placed his hoof gently, but firmly, over the hyper pony's mouth. He could still feel her lips moving under his hoof and he was sure that if he moved his hoof, she would continue speaking as if nothing had happened.

"Excuse me, but could you please calm down?" He asked slowly before moving his hoof away from her mouth.

"Of course!" She squeaked loudly before she started hopping in a circle around him. "I know I get excited sometimes but it's just so great that there is a new pony in town!"

"How did you know I was new?" He asked cautiously after he stood up and brushed some dust off himself. He looked over and saw his bunny friend doing the same before hopping into Wanderlust's saddlebag.

"That's easy! I know everypony in Ponyville and since I didn't know who you were, I knew you had to be new!" She answered before she gasped loudly and tackled a nearby pony. "I don't know you either! Welcome to Ponyville!"

Seeing freedom at hoof, Wanderlust turned and galloped away. He slowed only when he could no longer hear the chattering of the pink pony. Still, he didn't want to remain on the street lest she find him again. He looked around until he found something that caught his attention.

Wanderlust found himself staring at a large tree that seemed to have been retrofitted as a house. He walked over to it and peeked in through the window only to find a massive pile of books leaning against the window.

"Is this a library?" He wondered before he made his way to the door and opened it slowly. "A very messy library..." He muttered out loud.

Looking in he saw books thrown everywhere. Wanderlust took in the sight of dozens of books lying in random positions all over the floor. He saw shelves but most of them were empty except for one or two books sitting in the corners.

He took a few steps into the disheveled room. He debated whether to clean up the room or if he should just ignore it and leave. He decided on the former and grabbed a few nearby books with his magic.

He was only halfway through organizing the books before the front door opened revealing a small lizard like creature. He was covered in small purple scales and had large green spines running from his head to the tip of his tail. He had curious looking green slitted eyes that were currently locked onto Wanderlust's own.

"Hey." He said.

"Hey."

"Why you cleaning up those books?"

Wanderlust thought for a moment before answering. "It's messy."

"Ok." With that said, he went over and grabbed a few books and quickly put them in their correct spots.

Both were silent until all of the books were snuggled safely in their respective shelves.

"So who are you anyways?"

"I'm Wanderlust. And you are?"

"Spike. Nice to meet you."

"Ditto. You own this place?"

"No. Twilight Sparkle does. You know, bright purple unicorn. Got some weird colored streaks in her mane. Kind of crazy."

"Crazy, huh? I'll remember that Spike." Came a feminine voice from the other side of the room.

Looking to the door, Wanderlust and Spike saw the described pony walking into the room. Spike was pretty spot on with his description except for the crazy part. Wanderlust couldn't see a reason for that part of his description.

"Who's this?" She asked indicating Wanderlust.

"I'm Wanderlust. May I say, you have a lovely library here."

"Oh thank you." She smiled and looked around. "You should have seen it earlier. It was an absolute mess."

Wanderlust smiled slyly. "Well I got here and this place looked spic and span. You have a very good assistant here." He said and patted Spike on the head softly.

Spike looked at him in confusion and was about to say something until Twilight started talking.

"I do, don't I. I'm going to have to get some nice gems for my number one assistant here." She smiled and trotted over to look at one of the shelves.

Wanderlust gave Spike a little wink before he heard the ever annoying presence of the voice come back to him.

_Wanderlust, this is very important. I need you to burn this place to the ground. I need you to kill these two._

Was it just his imagination, or did the voice sound pleading.

_They are going to try to take me away._

"And what's bad about that exactly?" Wanderlust thought back.

Twilight felt chills run down her spine and she turned around to see Wanderlust staring at nothing. His eyes were staring straight ahead but they weren't focused on anything. She was about to turn back around when she saw something flicker across his vision. It was gone in a moment, but she swore that his eyes had turned black for a moment.

"Wanderlust? Are you okay?" She asked cautiously.

He blinked and looked at the purple unicorn. He almost jumped back as he saw fire burning around the pony and blood sliding down her face. In an instant, it was gone but it's effects remained. Wanderlust felt his stomach clench and he had to fight to keep himself from vomiting. He took a step back and again the image appeared. Without a second thought, he turned and galloped to the door only to find it stuck shut.

He was about to start banging on the door until he noticed the light pink glow surrounding the door. Turning around, Wanderlust saw a similar glow coming from Twilight's horn. The image appeared again but this time it remained.

_Kill._

Wanderlust felt his stomach flip and he turned away. "Let me leave." He ground out between clenched teeth.

_Kill._

"Leave me alone."

_KILL!_

Wanderlust whipped around with every intention of doing what the voice told him. He would kill. Anything to escape from the image of death that was burning itself onto his eyes. He felt a heavy weight slip off his back and Wanderlust's eyes widened.

In an instant, the voice completely vanished and Wanderlust suddenly felt very tired. He blinked a few times drowsily before he turned around to see his saddlebag lying a few feet away on the ground.

Some of the contents of the bag had spilled out including a book, Ginger and the jagged stone he had found in that snowy wasteland outside the Crystal Empire. Pulling his attention away from the bag, Wanderlust looked at Twilight and saw her eyeing him suspiciously.

"Can I go now?" He asked hoping that his face didn't show how shaken he was.

After a moment, she nodded and the glow from her horn vanished. Wanderlust looked to his bag but saw that Ginger had already pushed all of the objects back into the bag. He quickly grabbed it and dashed out the door before the voice could return.

* * *

Wanderlust stared at the stone sitting a few feet in front of him. For the past few hours he had watched it afraid of what might happen if he looked away. A few times he had reached a hoof out and touched it. Each time images of death had flashed into his mind.

This time, however, when Wanderlust touched the stone, he saw the dark stallion from his dreams smiling a cruel smile. Wanderlust didn't move his hoof away even as the image slowly seemed to morph. In a few moments, Wanderlust found himself staring at...himself.

But something was wrong. His eyes had changed to match the dark stallion's and a purple mist was flowing from his eyes. A dark crown sat on top of his head. A smile formed on his face as blood slowly leaked from his jaws.

Wanderlust felt his consciousness quickly slip away. The last thing he saw before his mind left the waking world was the red horn resting atop the pony's head.

**Chapter 2 is done. Hope you enjoyed it. Goodbye people/ponies.**


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Mission Distraction**

**Not much to say.**

**Read, Enjoy, Comment.**

Wanderlust sneezed and wiped his nose with a hoof. "Stupid rain." He muttered as he trotted through the rain trying to find someplace to wait out the storm. He finally settled on a building that looked rather like a gingerbread house. He walked in through the open front door and was immediately hit by a wave of heat.

A content smile spread across his face as he quickly warmed up and he shook some of the water from his mane. Looking around, he found that the building was in fact a bakery. His eyes locked on a tray of blue cupcakes. His stomach growled lightly and he quickly looked through his saddlebag for his bag of bits. After moving a few objects to the side, including a sleeping Ginger, he found the bag and quickly counted the bits.

He counted twenty bits. "Not too much money left. I'll just get one." He thought as he trotted up to the counter and rang a small service bell.

After a few seconds, a bright pink pony hopped through a doorway from what Wanderlust assumed was the kitchen. He quickly recognized her as Pinkie Pie. As a precaution, he tensed his back legs just in case he would have to jump out of the way to avoid another tackle/hug from the pony.

She apparently recognized him as she had a large grin planted on her face. "Hey Wanderlust! Welcome to Sugar Cube Corner! The best bakery in all of Equestria!"

"The best in Equestria, huh? That's quite a claim to make." He smiled politely but was unsettled that she knew his name. He was pretty sure he never told her what his name was.

"Yeah it is..." She put a hoof to her mouth in thought before she gasped sharply and hopped up onto the counter. "I know what we must do! We must go to every other bakery in Equestria and try out their cakes!"

Wanderlust snorted in laughter. "Maybe another day Pinkie. Right now I'd just like a cupcake." He said indicating the nearby tray.

She giggled and hopped back down. "Okie dokie!" She grabbed one of the cupcakes and put it in front of Wanderlust. "That will be five hundred bits please."

Wanderlust felt his eye twitch lightly. "Isn't that a little pricey?" He asked trying to figure out whether she was kidding or not.

"Fine. Name your price" She said simply.

"How bout one bit?" He suggested.

"One hundred." She shot back.

"It's progress..." He thought before he responded with three bits.

"Fifty."

"Four bits!"

"A thousand!"

"Five!"

"Seventy!"

"Six!"

"A million!"

Wanderlust quickly realized he wasn't getting anywhere with this but still he continued this ridiculous form of haggling for more than five minutes.

"Fifty!"

"Six and a half!"

"Two bits and you help me throw Fluttershy a birthday party!"

"Done!" Wanderlust quickly spit out as soon as she said two bits but stopped as he heard the rest. "Wait...Throw Fluttershy a birthday party?" He questioned remembering the shy pegasus he had accidentally yelled at in the park.

"Yeah. Tomorrow's her birthday!" She answered with a squeal. "Me and my friends are throwing a party at her house but we need someone to keep her out while we set up. It's a surprise!" She whispered.

Wanderlust crossed his front hooves in front of his chest in a big 'x'. "No can do. I've only met her once so it would be kind of weird if-"

"You already know her? Well that makes things simple!" She hopped around the counter and placed her hooves on Wanderlust's shoulders. "Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to keep Fluttershy occupied for as long as possible tomorrow."

"Why does that sound so familiar?" Wanderlust wondered silenty before asking. "Isn't there anypony else you could ask to do this?"

"None of my friends could do it. Fluttershy would know something's up! This party needs to be a surprise!" She exclaimed and leaped into the air.

"Come on Wanderlust...think of an excuse!" He silently scolded himself. "I-I wouldn't even know how to get her to come with me." He offered weakly.

This made her pause for a moment. Putting a hoof to her mouth, she took on a look of concentration.

Wanderlust took a step back as a light bulb appeared above Pinkie's head. "What the hay!?" He gasped and pointed at it. "Why is there a light-" He stopped talking as the bulb flickered and turned black.

Pinkie sighed in frustration before she trotted over a nearby closet. She dug through it for a moment before returning with a fresh light bulb.

Wanderlust watched in both horror and fascination as Pinkie Pie seemed to defy all logic and unscrewed the floating light bulb. Tossing the dead bulb away, she then proceeded to screw the remaining bulb into thin air. Instantly the bulb glowed bright.

"I've got it!" She exclaimed and started digging through Wanderlust's saddlebag while he watched the floating light bulb.

After a few seconds, Wanderlust watched her trot back in front of him, drawing his attention away from the horrible perversion of the laws of physics. He saw a small mass of brown fuzz in her hooves and Wanderlust quickly identified the form of his sleeping bunny, Ginger.

"Fluttershy loves animals! Just show her this little guy and she'll follow you anywhere!" She explained.

Wanderlust quickly snatched Ginger out of her hooves, suddenly feeling very protective of his animal friend. By this point, Ginger was awake and proceeded to hop up onto Wanderlust's head. "My bunny." He thought possessively as his pet settled into the soft bed that was his mane.

"Please do it!" She begged.

"Fine! Just get me my cupcake." He growled as he grabbed two bits and tossed them on the counter.

She cheered and went behind the counter to retrieve his cupcake.

Wanderlust just glared at the floating light bulb for a moment before it fell to the ground with a crash.

* * *

"How am I supposed to keep her away from her house without seeming like a creep?" Wanderlust wondered as he munched on an apple while Ginger sat nearby nibbling on a carrot that Wanderlust had gotten from a pony who called herself, believe it or not, Carrot Top.

"How am I supposed to even approach her without seeming like a complete weirdo!?" He asked himself as he put a hoof to his forehead. His question was answered as he heard a set of loud thumping.

Looking over, he saw Fluttershy scratching Ginger behind the ears receiving dozens of small foot thumps in return.

"Aren't you just the cutest little bunny. Would you like to come home with me little guy?" She cooed as she continued scratching.

Wanderlust felt a look of annoyance cross his face and he cleared his throat loudly eliciting a loud meep as her attention switched to the pony sitting nearby.

"I-I'm sorry...Was I disturbing you?" She asked quietly.

"No. I was just wondering why you were trying to steal my little bunny friend." He said before standing up and trotting over, his apple now forgotten.

Ginger looked between the two ponies and quickly hopped over to her owner. After a moment, a small layer of black sparkles engulfed the bunny and her discarded carrot before both floated onto his back. The glittery aura quickly dissipated and she quickly resumed gnawing on her carrot.

"I-I wasn't trying to t-take your bunny!" She squeaked and took a step back. "I-I'm sorry!"

Wanderlust shrugged it off. "It's okay. No damage done. I just don't want anyone taking Ginger." He said and looked back at the little brown bunny. He had grown attached to the little fluff ball, even if he had only had her for a few days.

Fluttershy wasn't paying attention to the bunny anymore and instead was focused on the pony standing in front of her. She remembered his name was Wanderlust and she also remembered that smile he had flashed at her when she met him. Her cheeks burned slightly at the memory. She led out a quiet squeak and hid behind her mane slightly when he turned back to her.

"So, Miss Fluttershy, are you doing anything right now? Cause I saw this nice little cafe in town..." He asked. "Wow. Sounds like I'm asking her out on a date." He thought and felt the need to face hoof.

"Sounds like he's asking me out on a date!" Fluttershy thought and her face quickly turned bright red.

"You sick or something?" He asked and stuck a hoof to her forehead. "You feel really warm."

She tried to say, "No, I am perfectly fine." Unfortunately, it came out a little like this. "N-N-N-No I-I a-am p-p-per..." Quickly her words dissolved into an incomprehensible mess of stutters.

Wanderlust put a hoof over her mouth gently. "Calm down. I can't understand you." He said and removed his hoof.

She took a deep breath before speaking. "I'm not sick. I feel fine."

The stallion just nodded and felt a familiar weight drop onto his head, meaning Ginger had returned to her perch on his head. "So, you wanna get some food or what?"

She shook her head. "I-I'm not hungry." She admitted.

For some reason, Wanderlust felt strangely disappointed but ignored it.

It must have shown on his face, as Fluttershy quickly started apologizing. Wanderlust just shushed her. "Doesn't matter. You're not hungry, you're not hungry. Simple as that."

She smiled, glad that he wasn't upset. "So...Where are you from?" She asked hesitantly.

"Me? Canterlot. Haven't been back there for a few years though."

"Why not?" She asked, intrigued.

He shrugged. "Nothing for me there anymore. Family's gone."

She tilted her head. "They move?"

"They're dead." He answered simply.

Fluttershy flinched at this. Not at the words themselves, but at the tone he used. There was no emotion in his voice when he spoke. There had been no anger, sadness or even a hint of defeat. His tone just sounded dead as if he didn't care.

"I'm sorry..."

He snorted and sat down with a thump. "Don't be. Might as well not even have had a family. Didn't even attend the funeral."

The words sounded like they belonged in the mouth of a very bitter old stallion but, again, there was no emotion. Despite the bitter nature of the words, not an ounce of feeling came from the words.

"B-But why..?"

"Let's not get into this right now." He said and scratched his nose with a hoof. "So what about you? You got any family?" He asked. "If I want to keep her away from her house for a while, I should just keep her talking. Just gotta wait for Pinkie to give me the signal. Better hurry up."

She nodded and then went on to explain that she had family living up in Cloudsdale. She didn't have any siblings but she did visit her parents once a month despite not liking the heights.

"So what do you do for a living?" He asked.

"Well, I'm kind of a care giver." She said slowly.

"A care giver? For like foals?" He asked skeptically.

She giggled and shook her head. "For animals." She said and turned to show him her cutie mark.

"Three little pink butterflies. How appropriate." He thought and felt his gaze lingering on her flank. He tore his gaze away when she asked about his cutie mark.

"You wanna see my cutie mark or you just wanna look at my butt?" He joked making her blush. He just smiled at seeing her flustered and slipped his saddlebag off revealing a cutie mark in the shape of an old rusty compass. "I'm an explorer." He said noting her look of confusion.

"You explore? Where?" She asked.

"Everywhere!" He answered and Fluttershy could have sworn his eyes started sparkling. "I love exploring this world! The thrill of seeing things that haven't been seen for centuries!" A look of pure joy crossed his features. "That's actually why I came to Ponyville. A friend said that this was a good place to visit and rumor has it, that there are some ancient ruins in the Everfree Forest!"

"You actually want to go into the Everfree Forest!?" She squeaked. "But there are manticores and cockatrices and timberwolves in there!"

A wicked grin appeared on his face. "That's what makes it fun."

Her shock quickly subsided and she giggled. "If you say so."

They continued talking like this for another hour. Wanderlust told stories of the things that he had seen and Fluttershy told Wanderlust about the adventures that she and her friends had gone on.

"Wait, wait...You yelled at a dragon?" Wanderlust laughed and clutched at his stomach.

"Yes! He hurt my friends. What was I supposed to do?"

Wanderlust put a hoof on her shoulder. "You, my friend, are one brave pony. And kudos for having the courage to stick up for your friends. That's a very admirable trait in a pony."

Fluttershy blushed at his compliments and put a hoof over his.

Before either pony was fully aware of what they were doing, they were leaning in towards each other. They were inches away from each other before a loud whistling was heard.

Both ponies quickly jerked backwards and looked to the source of the whistling which appeared to be a rocket shooting up into the sky.

"What the hay...?" Wanderlust wondered until it exploded into a giant party hat before it quickly faded into nothing. "I wonder what that means." Wanderlust thought sarcastically before he turned to look at Fluttershy who was currently curled into a ball.

"Scared of fireworks?" Wanderlust asked.

She poked her head up and nodded slowly. A moment after, their eyes locked and they both remembered what they had been about to do before the firework had gone off.

They both looked away blushing.

"Why did I almost do that?" They both thought at the same time.

Wanderlust was the first to recover. "Maybe, we should get you home." He said looking to the slowly darkening sky.

She nodded mutely and trotted a few steps away.

"Hey!" He called making her stop. "I said we. I'd still like to walk you home." He said with a smile.

She looked back with a look of uncertainty but it turned to a look of gratitude as she noticed Celestia's sun dipping close to the horizon. "O-Okay."

He was about to trot up to her when he remembered something. "Two seconds." He said before he grabbed Ginger from atop his head. The bunny yawned in his hooves and looked up at him. "Sweet dreams, little bunny." He muttered softly and placed the sleepy bunny in his saddlebag atop a small scarf he picked up in the Crystal Empire in case he ever had to go through cold weather again.

He spied the stone lying next to Ginger and glared at it. For nearly two whole days, Wanderlust hadn't heard the voice at all. While he wasn't particularly anxious to have it back, he did have to wonder what happened to it. He dismissed the thoughts and turned his attention back to the mare standing patiently nearby.

"Shall we get going?" He asked after he had trotted up to her.

They both stood on Fluttershy's doorstep. She opened her mouth to say goodnight but Wanderlust put a hoof over her lips.

"Fluttershy, happy birthday." He said with a smile and threw open the door with his magic.

"SURPRISE!"

**Chapter 3 is done. Yay. I hope you all enjoyed reading this more than I enjoyed writing it because I will be honest: I hate writing. But I love MLP so I'm doing this anyways.**

**Please leave me any comments on things that I need to improve. For example, the pacing, my grammar/sentence structure, or just anything that I'm not really being clear on.**

**Anyways...GOODBYE.**

**PS: I hardly ever proofread my stories so mistakes may be frequent.**


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Thinking Hurts...**

**BLAHBLAHBLAH! READ!**

"Ow..." is the last thought that Wanderlust had the night before.

With a groan, the adventuring pony slowly flickered open his eyes, wincing as direct sunlight entered his vision for the first time that day.

He let his eyes adjust for a few seconds before he opened them fully. Quickly trying to determine his surroundings, he whipped his head around before an explosion of pain burst behind his eyeballs.

Quickly screwing his eyes shut, he pressed his hooves to his temples and waited for the pain to subside. It quickly vanished after a few seconds and Wanderlust decided to take things slower this time.

"Open eyes, go blind for a moment, look around SLOWLY." He mentally checked off each item as he did it. He soon figured out that he was on a soft green couch in a modest looking living room.

He scanned the room slowly taking note of the multiple animal cages and the dozens of bird feeders and food dishes. He had to do a double take when he saw the most hideous lamp he had ever seen in the shape of some deformed creature wearing a pink tutu holding a light bulb in one of his mismatched hands. Wanderlust would have looked for a way to turn it on if it didn't look like it would shatter the moment he touched it although it looked like it had shattered once before since it was riddled in cracks.

"A...A friend made that for me." A soft voice drew his attention away from the lamp and Wanderlust found himself looking at a smiling Fluttershy.

"Your friend has interesting tastes." He said jokingly and sat up from his reclined position on the couch before stretching out his legs. "What happened last night?" He asked and winced slightly at a nagging pain in the back of his head.

"Umm...Well.." She was about to start explaining about the night before when Wanderlust suddenly gasped in pain.

His hoof was resting on the back of his head where a large lump was sitting. Currently, it was throbbing in pain in time with his heartbeat. Wanderlust looked up with an obvious question. "What happened last night?" He asked again, only with more insistence.

As an answer she pointed at the remains of a butterfly pinata hanging from the ceiling.

Wanderlust scratched his head in thought. After a moment, it dawned on him. "Someone hit me with a bat, didn't they?" He asked and received a nod. "Well that is just lovely." He groaned and felt at the back of his head experimentally. "Is there at least some candy left?" He inquired.

This elicited a giggle out of Fluttershy who quickly trotted away and came back with a lollipop.

Wanderlust smiled and took the candy from Fluttershy. "You are the best Fluttershy." He complimented and stuck the lollipop in his mouth. "Mmmm...Cherry." He murmured before getting off the couch and standing shakily on his hooves. "So besides me getting knocked out, how did the party go? Did you have fun?" He asked while sucking on the sugary treat.

"It was fun. Pinkie always throws the best parties." She smiled at the memory. "Afterwards she told me about everypony pitching in to help set it up. E-Even you."

Wanderlust felt his cheeks flush lightly. "Yeah. I kind of got roped into that." He admitted and chuckled lightly. He quickly stopped when the lump started aching.

"W-Well it was still s-sweet." She smiled and felt her cheeks turn red as well.

The sweet moment quickly ended as pain shot through Wanderlust's head. "Oh sweet Celestia..." He groaned before gnashing his teeth together and screwing his eyes shut. The searing pain last for a good twenty seconds before it finally lessened, leaving behind a sweating, groaning Wanderlust.

After what felt like an eternity, he opened his eyes to see a very concerned Fluttershy looking at him. He opened his mouth to say something only to have the shattered remains of the lollipop, along with a small piece of tooth, fall out. "Ow..." He moaned and swayed on his hooves.

He was about to tip over when he felt a soft wing drape over him, keeping him balanced. Looking to his left he saw the same concerned face that he had before. Without a word, she started leading him into another room.

Sitting him down in a chair, Fluttershy turned and started rummaging through a nearby cabinet. She soon found what she was looking for in the form of a large jar of yellow liquid. Grabbing a spoon, she set the jar in front of Wanderlust and unscrewed the top.

Wanderlust tilted his head while examining the jar's contents. Through the haze of pain, he saw what he thought to be a simple blend of honey and a mixture of unknown green herbs. He was soon having a small spoon of the mixture poke against his lips.

If he wasn't in excruciating pain, he would have inquired as to what the buck the stuff was before eating it, but he was in fact in an excruciating amount of pain so he ate it.

The sweet taste of sugar quickly filled his mouth as his suspicions on the mixture being made of mostly honey were confirmed. Several spoon fulls later, his stomach started rumbling and tingling. The tingling soon spread from his stomach to his limbs and finally to his head. The strange tingling quickly faded, and with it all the pain in his body.

He lifted his front hooves in front of his and looked at them. They were moving but he couldn't feel them. In fact, he couldn't feel anything. He clapped his hooves together but felt nothing. He even went as far as to touch the lump on the back of his head. Still nothing.

He looked at Fluttershy questionably. "What was that?" He asked, his words slightly slurred.

Fluttershy looked nervous as she answered. "A-A painkiller...m-meant for a-animals." She admitted.

Wanderlust raised an eyebrow. Or at least he hoped that his eyebrow was raised since he couldn't feel it move. After a moment, he just shrugged. "Well it worked."

Fluttershy sighed in relief and was about to ask how he felt when she saw him smash his head on the table. She jumped straight up and squeaked loudly. "What are you doing?!"

Wanderlust just smiled as he picked his head back up. "I can't feel a thing!" He laughed and then proceeded to smash his head twice more on the table. "Nothing!" He laughed.

Fluttershy wasn't sure what to do but she did feel the need to move the jar farther away from the seemingly crazy unicorn.

Still laughing crazily, he smashed his head down a fourth time but this time he didn't move it away. Soon snores were heard from the table and Fluttershy sighed in relief.

**Oh drugs. What fun. The only real thing that was important in this chapter, is that he suffered head trauma. The rest was just for the sake of being random.**

**Note: I am sorry for putting off making these chapters so much but I've discovered a horribly addicting game. League of Legends eats up most of my free time. Between that, football practice and work I might not get around to writing as much. I will however try my hardest to get these chapters done. Expect a new one in no more than a week.**


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